Are you planning to Build a Fountain? Guide4Home Tips...

Homemade outdoor water gardens

Ever dreamt of adding a water feature to your garden but got put off by the costs? Well, you can build a fountain yourself for a fraction of the cost of a store bought water feature and you can customize it as you please.

If you’re any way practically minded and would like to build an outdoor fountain yourself the possibilities are almost endless. Salvage materials lend themselves to all sorts of fountains and if you use stuff you already have or can get for free then you can keep your costs low. Besides, homemade creations can have a lot more character than store bought fountains.

Tips on how to build a fountain of your own

First of all you need to decide what type of fountain you’re going to build and assemble the materials you’ll need for it. Regardless of what type of look you choose - from spewing metal watering cans to overflowing terracotta pots - you’ll need a water pump, some tubing and some basic tools.

The best bet is to start off small and see how things work out – after your first successful fountain building project you can move onto to something more challenging.A good first project could be done with just a few simple flower pots.

First of all choose a location for your fountain that is near a power source – you’ll need electricity for your pump. Assemble the materials you have available – pots, stones, tubing and a pump. If you’re using pots that look good you can simply arrange one higher than the other to create a flowing water effect – if they don’t look so good dig a hole for one and let it act as a below-ground reservoir that can be covered up with stones. Either way make sure you waterproof the pots with acrylic sealant before you get stuck in.

Place the pump in the reservoir pot and attach it to something heavy such as a brick with a rubber band or twine. It’s a good idea to put the pump inside a section of fine mesh pantyhose as this will act as a filter and prevent your pump from clogging. Attach the tubing to the pump and feed it out of the reservoir and through some chicken wire. The chicken wire acts as a lid to the reservoir and lets you load your stones on top in a decorative way. If you’re not burying a pot simply half fill the reservoir with stones to hide the pump and add to the sound effects once the whole thing is in motion.

You can either dig the base of your second pot into the ground beside the tub or put it on a stand of some sort. Feed the tubing through the drain hole of the pot and then seal it with plumber’s putty, silicone caulk or rubber fill. You can cover the tubing with small pebbles or even add another smaller pot inside with some water loving plants.

Fill the reservoir and feed pot with water before turning on the pump, then adjust the flow and the rocks and pebbles so that water overflowing from the feed pot runs into the reservoir and not out over your grass. Then sit back and enjoy your masterpiece.